


What Now?

by The_Unicorn22



Category: Madre Solo Hay Dos | Daughter From Another Mother (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:55:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29416746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Unicorn22/pseuds/The_Unicorn22
Summary: This fanfic starts when things ends in the show.
Relationships: Mariana/Ana Servín
Comments: 20
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, this is literally the first fanfic I’m posting here. I’m super scared and nervously what you will think (good or bad). I’m usually the one posting comments when I read fanfics. So being the one writing/post a fanfic, is truly a first. I decided to write something about writing this show because I couldn’t hold it anymore. LoL!  
> Please note that I wrote this fanfic in two days and that I have NO idea where it’s going and/or if I will ever finish it.  
> English is not my first language so please be kind if you see a mistake. I want to apologize in advance.  
> And lastly, enjoy! :)

What Now?

Mariana is standing in front of the door. She takes a moment to dry her tears but she knows there is no point in hiding that she has been cried for a while now. She can feel that hey eyes are puffy. And she knows very well that the person who will answer the door will know what she has been doing. She wants to knock on the door but her instinct is telling her not to do it. She knocks anyway. She waits for a moment and when the door opens, she stops breathing for a second. She wanted her best friend to answer but instead , it’s Pablo who is standing in front of her.

Before anyone has the time to say anything, Mariana’s face drastically change the moment she is looking at the woman, half naked, standing down the hallway. In that exact moment, she remembers why she didn’t want to move with Pablo and Elena. And that reason was exactly this: Mariana didn’t want to run into the fling of the month or waking up one morning and meeting someone’s one night stand. “Thank God I didn’t move in.” She thinks to herself. Then, a wave of sadness comes over her because now the question is ‘where am I supposed to go?’

“Mariana!” says Pablo bringing her attention back to him, feeling very much uncomfortable like he’s been caught. “Hi! Uhm… I’m sorry. I- Are you okay? Come in.”

“Oh no no, sorry for coming here unannounced. I just wanted to see if Elena was here. I tried her phone a couple times but it went straight to voicemail.” Mariana smoothly lies to him. In all honesty, she was hoping that the roomie offer still stood, but seeing him with another girl only two weeks after the proposal rejection and only after a few hours after the baptism of their daughter this morning, Mariana thinks that nothing can top today’s event. What a roller coaster of emotions today has been so far for her and it’s only 1740.

“Aye, no s-sorry! After the baptism, we all came back here, but she told us she was going to stay at her parents house for the night.” Pablo tells her. Mariana can see that he wants to add more but he’s holding back. He turns his head once again to see if Cynthia is still standing there but they both hear the door closing. 

He looks back at Mariana and says “Mariana, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were coming. I-I can explain wh-.”

Mariana holds up her hand to him as he stops talking. 

“You don’t owe me any explanations Pablo. It’s okay. Please, just tell Elena I am looking for her and to tell her to call me when she can. Okay?”

Pablo silently nods at her. 

“Bye!” she says as she walks away from the entrance door.

“B-bye!” he replies before slowly closing the door.

Mariana is back to where she started: looking for place to sleep. She wants to cry, scream or both, but her attention shifts to a cute noise indicating her that Regina is awake. As Mariana is looking at her child, sadness comes over her once again. She can’t believe that the baby she carried inside her for 9 months and counting was named by Ana, the chic business and bossy woman she confessed her love to a few hours ago. Mariana thinks that this day will never truly end. “How did I get here?” She asked herself out loud.

She leaves the building with Regina. It’s not raining outside but she can feel it in the air that it will soon. It got darker outside than before when she walked in the building earlier. She walks down down the street. She actually doesn’t know where to go, she feels lost. A part of her wants to call her mother, but she’s too proud at the moment and also hurt from her mother’s affairs with Juan Carlos to dial her numbers. 

Mariana is about to wave for a cab when her phone makes a noise indicating her she just received a text. She looks at it and it reads “Mariana, where is your mama?! Can you open the door for me. I’m waiting outside the apartment. Sad face.”

Mariana has to read the text twice because she is still confused as to why her mother isn’t already at home. Anuar left as soon as Ana reveal the infidelity of her husband which was around 1400. 

“Oye mama! What now? Ugh…” Mariana says out loud. The old couple walking by her stops and turns around to look at to her.

“What? You’ve never seen a woman with a baby before?”she yells a little bit at them. Mariana is annoyed by the constant look she keeps getting since she’s been a mother… or since she’s been in this new neighbourhood. She knows she’s only 23, but she’s an adult just like the rest of them. She hates that judgemental look.

Mariana finds a taxi around the corner and after putting the stroller in the car, with the help of the taxi driver, she proceeds to give him the address of her mother.

The vehicle drives away from the curb, Mariana looks at Regina who’s giving a smile. It wasn’t a laugh, but the simple gesture by her cute little girl, brought memories to Mariana of that time when her and Ana were in the nursery with Valentina and Ana was trying to make Valentina laughed because she had cried all day in her presence. The moment shared between her and Ana was so innocent, but the hug they shared at the end of their conversation, even though it was a bit awkward, ignited something inside Mariana that she tried to suppress for a while…until today.

Lost in her thoughts during the entire drive, the taxi drives brings her back to the present when he says “ señorita, it will be 15 US dollars.” Mariana is not too happy about the among but she still leaves him a nice tip. Inside the building, Lucía is happy to see her granddaughter and baby Regina.

“Ah! Finally you are here!” Lucía says while she’s sitting in the floor against her door.  
“Oh my dog, Gramma, how long have you been sitting there?! You’re gonna catch some hemorrhoid later! Please, let me help you stand up.”

Lucía makes a noise as she is being helped by Mariana. As they both are now standing in front of each other, near the door, Lucía notices the sadness in Mariana’s eyes.  
“What happened my love? You’ve been crying. Are y-.”

“ Ya, ya, I’m okay , Gramma. Everything is okay.” They both know she just lied, but Lucía doesn’t say more because she knows her granddaughter will try to push her away just like Mariana has been doing with Teresa. 

Mariana unlocks the door and let her grandmother go first but she doesn’t come in.

“Mariana what are you doing? Come in. Your mother will be home soon. I’m sure she just stopped to grab some food for dinner. Aye! What a morning at the baptism yah?

“Yes Gramma. Long and exhausting day. It’s getting late and I have to feed Regina before she goes to sleep. You gonna be okay until mama comes back?

Lucía is about to say something when Teresa shows up behind Mariana.

“Mariana? What happened ? What are you doing here my love?”

The voice of her mother is not soothing to her at the moment and all Mariana thinks about is a way to just avoid answering her questions.

“Im going back to Ana’s house. Gramma needed the door opened. Okay. Bye”. She says while saying a lie and a truth in one sentence. “What is happening to me?” She thinks to herself.

“Mariana!” Teresa and Lucía both say at the same time. 

“I have to go mama, it’s getting late.” Mariana is so hurt and angry at her mother from to the secret affair with Juan Carlos that Mariana would prefers to sleep the night anywhere but under the same roof as Teresa.

She walks away and again, Mariana is outside another building with Regina. Her phone beeps . It’s a text from Elena. She can feel the chilling wind. She covers Regina with an extra blanket. She is about to read the message when it starts raining on her. Mariana opens her cellphone.

“Hey you are okay, dude? Pablo said you tried to contact me? Saw your missed calls. Sorry I took a nap. What a crazy event. How’s Ana? She’s probably gonna have a bad hangover tomorrow ,ya? Lol! Natalia just got here.Call me tomorrow, okay?”

Mariana is truly on the verge of screaming. She realizes that after everything that happened with Elena, she never truly experienced rejection before. And now, she just wants this feeling to go away. And she was hoping to talk to her best friend about what happened with Ana. Tomorrow will have to wait.

Mariana stands back closer to the building on the dry area. Regina has been with her this entire time, but she has been so quiet earlier that she thought that maybe she went back to sleep in the car seat, but no is not the case. Regina is whining. Mariana knows her daughter is hungry and tired from all the travelling. She talks to her daughter in a soft voice and says “aw my love. It’s okay. We’re going back home. It’s okay. I’m gonna feed you on the way.”

Maybe it was the way she said home or simply for hearing the sound of her mother’s voice, but Regina stops whining at the word and looks at her mother with such a beautiful smiling and see the sparkles in her eyes. It brings a tender smile to Mariana, a first since she left Ana’s house.

She looks on her phone again to see what time it is and it shows 1835. Her option are limited. Either go back to her mother’s house and have this heavy discussion with Teresa and her grandmother about what happened today. Or go back to Pablo’s apartment and deal with him and the supposedly new girl in his life. But when she thinks of these two options, Ana comes back in her thoughts with a flashbacks of all the things that they’ve gone through. From their first meeting to the confession.

Mariana puts her hurt feelings aside for the well-being of your daughter and decides that that is the best option for Regina. She waves at a taxi that is driving down the road and once in the vehicle, she hesitates but gives an address to the driver.

She looks at Regina and says “We’re going home sweetheart.”

Her heart sinks as she says those words to Regina because she realizes more than ever that the place they are heading to is a safe place, after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ana’s side of the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! :)

Ana wakes up abruptly half an hour or so later after she had laid down on the grass. « Regina! » is the first thing she says to herself. For a short instant, she doesn’t know where she is until she looks around and sees the chairs on top of each other together on her lawn and the house behind her. Grey clouds cover the sky. She decides to stand up but mid way in the movement, her head starts pounding. She is dizzy and she stops for a second or two before before making the first steps toward the house. Once inside, Alta is there to greet her and mentions her that Valentina is sleeping.

“ Thank you Alta. I’m going to take a shower now. I’ll come see her as soon as I’m done.”

Alta just nods and goes back to the kitchen. Ana recognizes the smells, but she is not feeling it today. Her headache is strong and all she wants to do is take a shower and make sure she is clean from head to toe. Speaking of toes, Alta notices it instantly : Ana is walking barefoot in the house. A rule not to do unless the feet were washed first. She is too tired to fight herself on this.

Ana goes up the stairs and hold tightly the rail. « What’s gotten into me? » she asked herself with disgust by the way she acted. A part of her is so broken and hurt and the other part is boiling with jealous and anger. It’s the mix of emotions that Ana is not used to feel. She’s a woman of rules and principles and always expect things to go her way. But today, after the baptism, with a few and took many drinks, everything went down hill because the way she acted. But she knows that not everything is entirely her fault.

She enters her bedroom and everything inside looks so clean. The bed is made, the curtains are open. The magazines are piled neatly by her side of the bed, while on his side, the top of the dresser is empty.

She goes to the other room and the closet doors are still half opened. His side is mostly empty. The nap definitely helped because of a part of her probably would have stopped him for leaving to discuss in a deeper conversation about what the affair. But Ana’s anger and the humiliation she went through today is not giving her the strength to think of all those “what ifs”. She is just happy Juan Carlos was not in the house anymore, for now.

She grabs a pair of white pants and a blue top. She thinks to herself that fashion is not on the schedule today.

“Schedule” she scoffs.

She turns on the shower. Immediately, she remembers of that moment when she noticed the lump in her breast. She goes under the water as if she needs it like air. Her hair gets wet and then her face and as the water goes down her body, Ana wishes for the first time she had a tub to lay down again. And she remembers it to well that conversation a few years ago she had when her husband who tried to convince to keep the shower and add a tub next to it. But obviously, she refused by saying it wouldn’t be aesthetic and it would take too much of a space. It’s one of those rare moment when Ana thinks she may have made a mistake. Because she never does, usually.  
Which brings back her thoughts right away to Mariana. As soon as she said those 5 little words “Get out of my house”, Ana knew she had made the biggest mistake of her life. Because now, not only Mariana was out of the house, but her daughter Regina was out too.

She silently crying in the shower. The tears blend with the water. She is tired, she wants to sleep right there at the bottom of this shower. She doesn’t care, but she knows it’s soon the time to eat. If not her, at least Valentina must eat soon after she gets up from her afternoon nap.

Ana gets dressed and walks into the nursery room. The two cribs are there but one is empty and it’s Regina’s. She can’t believe she is back here again, with that same feeling, she had 3 months earlier when she had to give her back to Mariana. But this time, Ana made this decision purposely , only without thinking of the consequences. Her heart is torn in two and yet she feels like a piece of herself is missing as soon as she touches Regina’s pillow. She cries once more.

Valentina must has sensed, heard or smelled her mother standing close, because she wakes up with a whiny little cry. Instinctively, Ana picks up Valentina from her crib. That simple action, reminds her that the old Ana would have waited twenty minutes before picking up her own daughter.

Ana brings down Valentina to the kitchen. Ceci and Ro are both sitting quietly at the table, barely touching the food Alta gave them.

“Hello my loves” she forces herself to say in a happy attitude.

“Papa is gone while you were sleeping on the grass.” Cecilia tells her bluntly.

“Yes, I know my love. Your father and I -”

The doorbells interrupts her train of thoughts. Alta rushes out of the kitchen to see who’s at the front door. 

“ A lot has changed in the last hour. A lot has been revealed and we must stick together the four of us and stay strong okay my loves?”

“Why did Mariana have to leave with Regina? I don’t understand. When we asked her she said that you-.” Rodrigo is interrupted by the anger voice of her mother

“Rodrigo! It’s not polite to answer someone with another questions.”

“Yes, mama, sorry !” he says sadly and goes back at looking at his food and picking at it with his fork.

“Listen, kids, whatever you’ve heard from me or from your father or from Mariana. All three of us, we are all adults here and we will resolve the situation, but in the meantime, space is what we all need.Okay?” 

The children just nods.Alta returns to the kitchen a few minutes later and informs Ana: 

“Madame, an envelope came for you, I left it on your small dresser beside your bed.”

“Thank you Alta. I will open it later.” Ana tells her. They all see the older lady leaves for the night.

The rest of the evening is spent silently as if there is no one in the house and the only reminder that there is human activity is mostly when Valentina laughed during dinner or cried a little bit before bedtime. Cecilia and Rodrigo respectively went directly to their own room and closed the door behind them. Rodrigo is playing video games with his headphones on and Cecilia is listening to her music and texting her friend at the same time.

Back in the master bedroom, after putting down Valentina to bed for the night, Ana sitting at the bottom of her bed, finally opens the envelops she has been waiting for. She cannot believe the results. She is stunned. “Is this real?” ask herself . A cloud of cold air enters the room. Ana stands up and goes to close the window. The wind is strong and the rain is pouring hard on the grass. 

She is about to pick up her phone when the doorbell rings for the second time today. “Ugh… what now?” She has no time to look at the clock. The doorbell rings a third time once she reaches the last step. Ana gets annoyed by the impatience of the person standing outside. 

“Yes yes! I’m coming! Patience!” She growls. It almost makes her not want to open the door, but since it’s raining , she continues walking toward the entrance

The door opens and to Ana’s surprise, there stands the last person she thought she would be seeing and this soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone is at the door.

The taxi stops at the entrance of the driveway. Marina is not sure if this is a good idea, but she’s willing to risk everything if it meant to keep her daughter safe and dry even if just for the night. She pays the taxi driver, get out of the car and walk as fast as she can toward the main door. It’s pouring rain. It’s cold and the wind doesn’t help.

Mariana holds Regina tightly against her on her right hip. Warm blanket covering the baby from the rain, but not herself. By the time they reach the third and finale step to the entrance door, Mariana’s hair is wet. She has to wipe the water dripping down her face. As she stands in front of the door, she puts down the car seat at her feet. She hesitates a few seconds before to push the doorbell. A millions questions go through her mind all at once: “what ifs”. 

She looks at Regina one more time before covering her up again and as she is about to press the button when the taxi driver yells to her :

“Señorita! You forgot your stroller!” Slowly driving back in her direction.

They exchange a look and the look she gives him makes him surrender. He gets out of the car and covers himself as much as he can and goes to open the trunk of his vehicle to take the stroller out and place it beside the car seat.

After thanking him again for his help and for remembering she left it in the car. The taxi leaves the driveway into the main road. Mariana is now facing front of the door with the decision to either press the button of the doorbell or turn around, for good.

She presses the doorbell and waits for a while but it’s cold outside and since she got wet from the rain, she presses the doorbell one more time. Regina is starting to cry and Mariana does everything to soothe her. She knows her daughter is over tired and needs to sleep.

The door opens.

“Regina! My baby!”

The baby stops crying instantly. Mariana wants to say something but she’s speechless to see Ana in front of her. A part of her really wanted Alta, like it would have been a déjà vu from the first time she came in the house with Valentina. But this time, she is standing there with the right baby. And she’s looking at this beautiful woman who’s as shocked and surprised as her to see her. 

“Good evening Ana. Can I come in? Please ?” Mariana is asking.

Ana is holding the door against her body. Her facial expression turns from surprise to anger to worry just in fractions of seconds. She moves with the door as a sign to tell Mariana to come in.

“Thank you!” softly says Mariana as she enters the house. Ana closes the door behind them and there they are standing in front of each other hoping the other will talk first.

“Ana, I know you’ve said to get out of your house. And I don’t intending to stay. I promise. I’m only here because of Regina. You’ve said it yourself at the beginning, ‘consistency is important’ for the girls. And so is stability. And right now, that’s exactly what Regina needs. She needs a home, she needs a-“

Ana hold her hand in front of her to interrupt her.

“Let’s go put Regina to bed.”

Mariana is stunned by Ana’s answer but doesn’t say anything in case she angers the woman. Ana takes Regina from her and holds her tightly in her arms. She walks to the stairs and almost leaves Mariana at the entrance. But Ana looks back at the young woman and Mariana drops the bag that was on her opposite shoulder and walks faster to catch up to them who are already up a few steps on the staircase.

Once they arrived in the nursery room , Mariana rushes to Valentina’s crib and can’t help herself but gives another tender kiss to her other daughter without waking her up. Ana slowly puts down the baby in her crib. Regina slowly closes her eyes and before Ana covers her in dry warm blankets, she is sounds asleep.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly changes drastically. A minute ago, the two women were only focus on the baby they missed so much and now , here they are, standing on the opposite side of the cribs, looking at each other, in silence.

This silence is killing Ana, it annoys her and she can’t take it anymore. Mariana notices it right away. So she walks toward Ana whispers to her.

“We need to talk.”

“Here?” Ask Ana

“Yes, I mean no. Can we talk somewhere where there is n-“

Ana walks away from the room and Mariana goes after her. 

“Ana, please, wait!”

Ana stops in front of the room where Mariana used to sleep. 

“You know, all afternoon and this evening, all I was thinking was “Why would Mariana hold this crucial information from me” WHY ?”

The sounds on the last word echos on the second floor of the hallway. Without even thinking, Mariana grabs Ana by the hand and brings her inside the room and closes the door behind them. Ana is surprised by the sudden physical contact between them. It’s like a current went through her body and ignites something in her that she cannot describe, yet. So Ana does what she does best and takes back her hand from Mariana’s and cross her arms against her body. It’s a her way of protecting herself, but also a way to stop herself from doing something she has been wanting to herself for a while now.

“ I told you, Ana, when we went to the hospital together and I know how much you were scared and hurt and I didn’t want to add more hurt to you in that moment. I’m sorry. I know I messed up. I-I wish could go back in time and tell you everything if I knew this day would have turned out the way it did. I’m sorry, Ana.”

Ana looks intensively straight in the eyes of Mariana. She can see the hurt in her yes and feels the pain in her voice. But Ana doesn’t say nothing. She slowly steps away from the door until she reaches the bench by the window and sits down as she exhales loud enough for Mariana to hear.

Another long silent moment fills the room. Mariana is standing , near the door behind her. And for this first time she got here, she looks around and the room doesn’t feel like she was ever here. The bed is made but there is a brand new sheets already and new duvet on top of it. “Alta already went shopping? Wow that was fast!” She thinks to herself.

Ana clears her throat and brings back Mariana to the present. Mariana slowly walks toward Ana but at the last second, decides to sit down on corner of the bed.

“Ana, please forgive me. You know I care about you. I would have never done or say anything to hurt you on purpose to hurt you. You know that, right?”

Ana closes her eyes at the sound of the word. The flashbacks starts and she remembers the feeling as her touched the grass. The smells of Mariana ‘s perfume was wearing while she was seating next to her . She can still smell it on her now but it’s barely there . As she reopens her eyes, Ana sees that Mariana’s eyes are watery.

“ I forgive you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kind comments. I sincerely appreciate it. 🙏🏽🥲
> 
> Enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4

Mariana is speechless at these three little words. And yet, that’s all it took for her to start healing the heavy heart she has been holding in her chest all day. A few tears are about to roll down her cheeks but Mariana wipes them before they can escape her eyes. “Did I hear her, right?”she thinks to herself. She wants Ana repeat herself but instead she says hesitantly “ Really?”

“ Yes” Ana pauses “ I’m sorry about my behaviours from today. I’m sorry about everything. I was drunk and I know it’s not excuse.I’ve asked for forgiveness to my kids and they gave it to me. I’m hoping you will find a way to forgive me too.” Ana says half vulnerable half cold. 

Mariana is about to say something as a smile is forming on her face when Ana cuts her and says in a very serious tone “You can stay here with us. The babies needs both of us. But let’s make one thing clear, Mariana, as long as you live under my roof, no more secrets or lies or cheating of any kind. Deal?”

Ana extends her hand and Mariana gladly takes it and nods her head at the same time. They shake hands a few seconds longer that they both intend to, but they don’t let go, not until Ana catches herself brushing her thumb on top of Mariana’s hand.

“Okay, uhm, so good night.”Ana says letting go quickly of her hand.

“Yes, good night.” Mariana replies while looking at Ana like she knows what Ana was doing but doesn’t acknowledge it except with a smile.

Ana gets up from the bench and walks toward the door. As she is about to touch the handle, Mariana calls out her name..

“ Ana, wait! I-I want to talk to you about something… or ask you something actually?”

Ana sighs at the question. She turns around to look at Mariana.

“ Mariana, can this wait tomorrow?.”

The hesitation Mariana does before standing up reminds Ana of the similar situation they got themselves into in the backyard after everyone left. She didn’t want to repeat the same mistake again. Or maybe she wasn’t ready consciously for what Mariana was about to ask her. Because Ana remembers it all too well when Mariana cut her off and launched herself at her to give her an unexpected kiss. She didn’t see it coming. But deep down, Ana has been sensing things between her and the younger mother before it lead to the kiss. She was about to say one more thing but Mariana asks her

“Do you remember anything about what you did or said the night we went out to Elena’s gig, before you hurt yourself?”

“Aw Mariana, it was over 3 weeks ago, don’t remind me, please. You told me already I sang on stage when my favourite song came up. God, no more mushrooms for me.” Ana hides her face between her hands.

“Yes, you did that” she giggles at the memory. “But before you fell off the stage, you and I had a talk about you saying you were going to die and then y-you…” Mariana’s trails off.

“Mariana I’m sure this conversation can wait tomorrow, right? I’m tired.” 

Mariana is silence but approaches her and can tell she just entered Ana’s personal space because Ana takes one step back. Ana’s back is now against the door.There is no light in the room, the curtains are open and only the outside light is shining half way in the room. 

“Yeah , sure, it can wait, but…” Mariana whispers. 

The silence between them fills the room in a matter of seconds. Ana jolts a little bit when Mariana touches her shoulder. Ana finds the handle of the door from behind her and steps in closer to Mariana as she opens the door. Their faces are merely centimetres from one another and yet, Ana thinks Mariana is still too far from her. The thought itself gets Ana even more nervous so she wishes Mariana good night one last time and leaves the room in somewhat of a rush.

The following day, week and weeks, a new routine happens in the house. After the older kids get dressed, get breakfast and go to school, Mariana plays Regina and Valentina and then gets ready herself to work on her app. That’s when Ana take over the girls and enjoy quality times with them. 

Ana hasn’t found work, but she doesn’t feel the rush to get a new one right away. Eventually, she will but for now, her main priorities are her children and make sure she is there for them.

Over the following weekends, Juan Carlos has stopped by the house to see the babies and to pick up the older kids to spend time with them. Since the separation, Juan Carlos found a nice rental house and with the help of Alta, decorated the house and added furnitures so the kids could sleep over. The tension between their parents wasn’t easy for the kids. They love them both and for the first time, neither Ceci or Rodrigo want to pick sides. Unconsciously though, they did, just not their parents, because they got really close to Mariana.

It’s been three months now and not a single day has passed since Mariana hasn’t stopped thinking of what could have happened if she had the courage to finish the sentence to ask Ana the question that has been filling her mind since “Soldado Del Amor” night.

Ana said it herself, no more secret between them. But Mariana is still struggling between the idea of revealing to Ana what she did that night or completely forget about it and move on. But she can’t move on. Because every day, Mariana sees Ana and Ana sees her. And everyday, she remembers the taste of her lips against her. They live in the same house and yet, they can talk about anything, but not about that. They still haven’t talked about her confessing her love to Ana or the kiss that followed the confession. 

Inside Mariana’s head, the clock is ticking. She knows one day of another, she will have to bring this delicate conversation between them. So Mariana decides that Friday night is the best time to get it all out, after the kids are gone with Juan Carlos and after little babies are in bed.

“No more holding back information after all, right?” she whispers to herself before paying back attention to the open laptop in front of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, my writing is starting to slow down. All my ideas and the scenarios are in my head but I’m starting to have a hard time putting them into words. Idk when the next chapter will be , but hopefully you will not have to wait long.  
> Sorry in advance because I know this chapter was short.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner is ready...

It’s Friday morning and Mariana wakes up before Valentina does. She’s tired, excited but also nervous all at once. The night before, she barely slept. She kept tossing around in bed. She even got out of bed, three times, to check on the babies to make sure they weren’t too cold or too hot in their cribs. But in all honesty, she was hoping to meet Ana in the nursery like they used a lot before Valentina and Regina started eating solid food. 

Last night, she didn’t see her. Actually, since Ana has been working at this new job, she has barely seen her in the mornings. It wasn’t like Ana was avoiding her or vice versa. It was just that their schedules weren’t the same as it used to be. Ana’s routine was still with her older kids while Mariana’s schedule was adapting with the babies. And because their babies were now eating solid food, their sleep pattern was longer. 

When Mariana, looks at her clock, it shows 0655. Two options come to mind. Either take a shower and go downstairs or go downstairs in pyjama and get ready later. She chose the last option, because she only has seen Ana once this week and it was Monday. Mariana is ready to go out of the room when she hears a soft knock on her door. She opens the door and is surprised by the visitor standing there.

“Mariana! Good morning!” Ceci says to Mariana in a good mood.

“Good morning Ceci!”

“I hope I didn’t wake you up.” She says in a worry way. Mariana shakes her head as a no. “Okay good because Ro and I would like to invite you Sunday night at our mother’s favourite restaurant. It’s her birthday on Tuesday but we were thinking of doing a small celebration dinner with the family only.”

“Oh my god, yes of course, thank you for the invitation! I’ll be there.”

“You can invite Pablo and Elena, if you want since they’re… family too.”

“Yeah okay, I will ask them, but I’m not sure if Elena will come, she … has been really busy lately with her band and I know this weekend she’s having a gig across town. But I’ll ask her for sure.”

“Aw okay, no problem. Well, they are invited if their plan change. Just don’t tell mother about this. It’s a surprise! I’ll text you later with all the details once I’m at my father’s house.” Ceci says all excited about planning this event for her mother.

Mariana chuckles at the energy and excitement the seventeen years old has this morning for telling her about Ana’s surprise birthday party. But mostly, was she also excited because it’s finally Friday and the weekend is around the corner? “Probably” she thinks to herself.

“Very well, I will wait for your texts.” Marianas tells her, smiling. She touches the pocket of her hoody but it’s empty. “oh.. uhm…See you in a bit, I’ll be down in the kitchen, shortly. I just forgot my phone.” 

Mariana closes the door and goes back in her room, grabs her phone and grabs the baby monitor. As she opens the door, another visitor standing there in front of her. They both jump at the same time as they were not expecting the other being there.

“Ana!”

“Mariana, hi!” she says while her hand is still up like she was about to knock on the door.

“H-hi! Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah of course! I’m sorry. I was about to knock on your door, but then you opened it and…” she trails off. “Okay, the reason I’m here is because I…I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me this evening. The kids won’t be here. I mean, the older kids. Vale and Regina will still be here, but sleeping, but you know, I-.”

“Yes, of course! I haven’t seen you all week. It will be great to catch up.” enthusiastically Mariana replies even though she cut her off.

“So, 8 pm?”

“Perfect.” 

“Great, so have a good day!” Ana is about to leave when Mariana touches her arm to stop her from walking away.

“Wait, you’re not going to get breakfast before work?”

Mariana’s touch on her arms reminds Ana of when they were in the kitchen and Ana told her about the lump found in her breast. It may not have been the same type of touch; one was reassuring while this one was to stop her from walking away. But still, that didn’t stop Ana from having that same current passing through her body since the baptism.

Ana looks at Mariana’s hand on her upper arm and then looks back at her. Mariana removes her hand right away like she wasn’t supposed to do that, but also because she felt something too at the simple touch.

“No, I already ate. I just want to head to work early so I can come home early and spend time with y-you know, Vale and Regina before bedtime.”

Internally, Mariana is a bit disappointed that she wasn’t going to sit down for breakfast with Ana, but she doesn’t let it show.

“Okay, yes great idea! Have a good day and don’t work too hard.”

Mariana watches Ana goes down the stairs just like she did a few minutes earlier with Ceci. This time, she just stands in front of her room thinking that since she does have her cellphone, she can actually go to the kitchen. So, she catches up to Ana mid staircase and they silently walk down the stairs together. Ana just smiles at her and Mariana doesn’t dare saying a word in case she ruins the moment.

At the bottom of the stairs, they just share a look at one another one more time. Ana walks away towards the front door. Mariana slows down her steps just to look at Ana leaving before heading to the kitchen. Arrived in the kitchen, Mariana was very happy to see Ceci and Ro eating their breakfast, just like old times.

1630\. The doorbell rings. Juan Carlos is at the door. Due to the separation between Ana and him, Ana made sure to give him specific rules about when to pick up and drop off to drop their kids. Officially, neither of them had filed for divorce yet. Ana wanted to, but a part of her was hoping a miracle could safe their marriage. But she knew, deep down, the chances were slim. Too much had happened in the last few months and the more the days went by… the more the chances were getting slim and the hope of a miracle was fading away.

Mariana opens the door.

“Hi sir! Come in. The children are almost ready. They are just getting their bags in their room.”

“Thank you, Mariana. How were the babies today?”

“Oh, they were very good, for once, they let me work on my app without too many cries. You want me to bring Valentina down so you can see her?”

“I’d love to, but I’m in a rush.” Juan Carlos replies as Ceci and Rodrigo appear behind her.

“Ready?”

“yes!” they both answers.

The three leave the house and get in the car. 

20:00. Mariana walks to the kitchen and stops to lean on the door frame to look at Ana who’s behind the counter taking the food out of the oven. She is amused by what she is witnessing because she knows Ana doesn’t like to cook. 

“Hi! Mmmm, it smells good here!” She says announcing her presence.

“Aye, you scared me!” Ana jumps a little. She was very focus on not dropping the food. “The food is ready. Have a seat.”

“Okay, great because I’m starving!” She tells Ana. “Vale and Regina are sleeping by the way. The bath tired them. They should be sleeping until the morning.”

Mariana notices that it’s only the two of them in the kitchen. 

“Where is Atla?” Mariana asks her.

“I gave her the night off. I took the liberty to take over the cooking for dinner. Hope you don’t mind.” Ana smiles at Mariana. “Wine or beer tonight?”

“Beer, for me, please.”

They hold their gaze at each other from across the room for a few seconds before Mariana decides to walk around the counter to grab herself the drinks; beer for her and red wine for Ana and brings them at the table.  
They proceed to eat and drink while sharing what they have done during their busy week.  
At the end of their dinner, Ana realizes it’s almost 10 pm. She gets up and takes her and Mariana’s plate to the dishwasher.

“Aye! Time goes by so fast, like there is never not enough hours in a day to spend… with you.”

“Ana…” she gets up to walk towards Ana.

“Mariana, please let me finish.” Ana puts her hand up and Mariana stops half way.

“I didn’t treat you fairly in the past few weeks. Yes, I let you stay here with Regina, but really, you and I haven’t really had the chance to talk about… what happened after the baptism.”

Mariana is speechless because that’s all she every wanted to talk about. And the fact that it’s Ana who’s bringing up the subject back on the table (no pun intended), Mariana realizes that Ana has been thinking about their last conversation.

“A-Ana I’m sorry. I know, I shouldn’t have kept things from you. I still haven’t talked to my mother. I’m still very upset at her for what she did with-.”

“No Mariana, I don’t want to talk about your mother… or him. I wanna talk about what you say to me before you…kissed me.”

And there it was, the only subject they’ve been avoiding for weeks now. And Mariana had no idea how to respond to that. Eyes wide open, these two last words left Ana’s mouth and shouted straight to Mariana’s heart. She slowly walks to Ana until she stands closely to her. She never breaks eye contact with Ana.

“Did you mean it?” 

“Y-yes. Of course, I meant it. Ana, I’m so sorry. I know I shouldn’t have kissed you, but it just happened. And then, for sure, I should have asked you for your permission before, but since you had done it first, I”-

“Wait, what?” Ana says being all confused.

“You… you kissed me first.”

“What? When? I think I would remember if I ever kissed someone other than my hus-“

“I figure you wouldn’t remember that’s why I never brought it up. You kissed me the night we went to Elena’s gig. The night you told me you were going to die soon and then you said-“

Ana doesn’t let Mariana finish her sentence because the blur memories of that night all came back to her at once and without a warning, she closes the gap between them and kisses Mariana.

The kiss surprises the both of them. It’s quick, just like the first one they shared at the club. Their lips part a second later, but just like magnets, their lips touch again and this time, they kiss passionately. Mariana takes control of the situation and pins Ana’s against the counter. They bump into the door of dishwasher, but that doesn’t stop them. Ana moves her right hand up to the back of Mariana’s head and presses her more against her, like their lips weren’t close enough. Mariana moans at the gesture. Mariana’s left hand lower to the back of Ana and adventure under Ana’s shirt.

The warm touch of Mariana’s hand on her cool skin makes Ana moan into her mouth. The sensation is pleasing and none of them want to stop what they’re doing. But eventually, they stop, rest their forehead against the other while catching up on their breathing never without breaking eye contact.

Ana is the first to ask

“What now?” in a flirtatious way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I continue ...or should I just end it that way?  
> I’m kinda satisfied with it , but idk ... You guys tell me.  
> Have a good weekend 💋
> 
> Edit: Feb 23,2021 Hello guys, I corrected some typos in this chapter. Also I want to inform you all that I will be continuing this fanfic since I found more inspiration while rewatching episode 8. I hope that's okay with you. Chapter 6 has started today and so far, I'm happy to where it's going. Next week, you should post on here. In the meantime, have a wonderful week. See you soon on here. :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Teresa’s mind....  
> From the past to the present  
> And... Back to Ana and Mariana.

It’s been 3 months since the baptism and Teresa has not seen her daughter Mariana or granddaughter Regina. She misses them so much. Many calls unanswered or direct to voicemail with messages left were made and texts were sent and read without one single reply from Mariana. It’s the longest period that her and Mariana have not spoke to each other. Last time it happened, Mariana was 16 and they didn’t speak for two weeks, but at least Mariana was still living under her roof. Seven years later, time has changed, her daughter is all grown up, out of the house and already with a baby of her own.

Teresa is very much heart broken by how things went down at the baptism and she is filled with guilt for her actions.

Flashback

Mariana was always the smartest between the two. Always thinking before acting. It was never the case for Teresa. She was just not thinking ahead after she found out he was married. Their meeting became more frequent, always filled with laughter, excitement and desire. She loved how he made her feel, like he was her top priority and she loved taking care of him, even though it was mostly in a bed they shared at different hotels in the city. Their meetings were at different hours of the day and night, yet during their 6 months affairs, their need to be with each other grew stronger. Teresa even got a glimpse of hope that maybe they could be together, one day.

But reality set in on this one cloudy afternoon when she got a DM through the dating app from Juan Carlos

“ Won’t make it.Working late tonight. Sorry.”

Seven small words that destroyed the little paradise she was looking forward to in the past couple months. Things at her house weren’t the greatest. Anuar was around for a while after many breaks up in the course of their relationship, but when she met Juan Carlos, her heart beaten faster and stronger than any relationships she had ever been in. Eventually, Anuar left her house, Mariana blamed her again for not trying to work harder on her own relationship or for always taking Anuar for granted.

When she came back home from her long walk on that rainy evening, after receiving his message, Mariana was at the door waiting for her mother. The last thing she wanted to come home was to Mariana acting like the adult when she still thought of Mariana as a child even though she knew her own daughter was more responsible than she was herself at 22 years old. Teresa entered the apartment, avoided her gaze, dropped her keys on her table and walked towards her bedroom.

Mariana was behind her the whole time, she could hear her the sound of her voice but couldn’t hear any word from her.

« Mama! Did you hear what I just said? » Mariana looked worried and scared at the same time to hear her mother´s answer .

« Mariana! What? » Teresa snapped to her very annoyed.

Mariana hesitated before saying:

« Mama… I’m pregnant. »

Mariana saw the shock on Teresa’s face. An heavy silence filling the space between them, which was too much for Mariana, so she rapidly asked her mother:

« Mama, say something! »

« What do you want me to say? Congratulations? … Good night Mariana. » Teresa looked intensively at Mariana before slamming the door on her.

Teresa laid down on her bed. Her head hurt and her heart too. She was thinking of Juan Carlos message and the shocking revelation made , a few minutes ago, by her daughter. All she wanted at that moment was to fall asleep and wake up tomorrow, hoping today would have been just one bad dream.

Teresa looked at her phone one last time before falling asleep. She opened the dating app to reply to her lover, but Juan Carlos profile was not longer available. She knew in that instant that was over. And she knew she wouldn’t never have the answer as to why. Many questions came to mind, but Teresa knew that being involved with a married man, made her the other woman. It didn’t stop her from getting hurt. That night, she cried herself to sleep.

Present Day

Teresa is having her usual Friday lunch with her mother Lucía when she receives a photo text. It’s the first one in weeks from Mariana. She opens it right way with excitement.

Regina and Valentina. 10 months old today.

« Aw look mama! A pic of the babies from Mariana. Oh my god, look how big the babies are now. » Teresa says as she shows the picture to her mother

« Aw yes, they are so beautiful! Oh kid, I’m so happy Mariana is talking to you again. »

« Well mama, this is not talking but it’s a something. » Teresa replies half smiling 

« Baby, you cannot blame her for… »

« Aye mama, I know! I know! »

« Then do something about it, Tere. You wouldn’t want her to cut ties with you the same way you did with your father, right? » Lucía says in a serious tone, leaving Teresa mostly pensive after that.

Theresa returns home to a big empty apartment. As much she disliked the bickering between her and Mariana, not having her at the house was becoming more and more painful for Teresa. She never realized how much Teresa’s a sense would affect her. It was one thing to know she was going to live temporarily with Ana and her family for a couple weeks, but it’s another thing to completely lose contact with Mariana.

Teresa decides to send another message to Mariana because earlier when she did after receiving the picture she didn’t get a message back .

It’s around the 2030 and still no reply so Teresa is a home and she’s just in her bedroom and watching TV and even their favourite telenova is not keeping her concentrated enough because all she thinks about is her daughter so it’s around 2200 when she decide to send her one last text asking her if it was possible to meet her tomorrow because she is not working and would like to see her and the babies.

She presses send and decides to turn off the TV. 

________________________________________________________________________

Ana’s Kitchen

Ana and Mariana are staring at have each other after Ana asked « What now? » with this smile on her face flirting in a sense that maybe something more could happen tonight. Ana was waiting for her to say something when they both hear a buzz of the cellphone. Mariana received yet another message but to not be impolite towards Ana at dinner, she ignored them all. 

Mariana: « It’s getting late and I-… »

Ana : « Oh yeah sure! Of course, I didn’t -... »

Mariana: « It’s just that the babies are gonna wake up in a few hours and I just want to be rested before my busy day. Tomorrow, I’m sure you have some things to catch up on and you can do all and then if you want, we can go from there. »

Ana: « busy ? »

Mariana: « yeah, I might actually go see my mother because I haven’t seen her in a few weeks and you know, she hasn’t seen Regina since… »

Ana: okay.

The atmosphere change as soon as Mariana mentioned her mother.

Mariana : « I know I know that talking about my mother is a sensitive subject for you, for me for everyone and I just don’t wanna make it things more awkward between us. »

Ana: « It’s OK I totally understand actually I should go see my mother too.Maybe I’ll probably go visit her and bring Valentina with me since she hasn’t seen her in two weeks and then we could meet again tomorrow night ... here?

Mariana chuckles a little bit because she knows the meaning of the kitchen as for both of them and it has nothing to do with Ana’s cooking. 

As they leave the kitchen Ana and Mariana go up the stairs in silence side-by-side, knowing full well that the night it’s about the end.  
They slowly stop by Mariana’s room but Mariana continues her steps indicating to Ana that she’s walking to the master bedroom. 

Mariana: « This is your room. » 

Ana: « yes it is… »

They stand awkwardly facing each other waiting for the other to do or say something because they are still processing what happened earlier in the kitchen. Mariana breaks the silence. 

Mariana: « Good night Ana. »

Ana: « Good night Mariana. »

Ana turns around on her heel to walk toward the door down her small hallway leading to her room but Mariana grabs her left hand and spins her back around. 

Mariana kisses Ana passionately one more time before releasing her. They stay pressed against each body and then she leaves Ana wishing her good night again before walking back to her room.

Ana leans against the wall of the hallway catching up on her breath while watching Mariana closing the door behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was supposed to post this chapter by Wednesday but life got in the way. So , I’m sorry for the delay dear readers.  
> This chapter is short again , but the next one will be a bit longer since I have more things I want to add and definitely with more dialogue between the characters. Be prepared. 😉


End file.
